At 32 years old, the wildly popular Hazel Findlay keeps smashing that stone.
Ask climbers to name a jack of all climbing trades, and their answers will probably be fast and reasonably predictable: Alex Honnold, Adam Ondra, Tommy Caldwell, etc. But what about the women?
Findlay sits comfortably at the top of that field. Climbers recognize Findlay for her bold trad climbing ascents and head points of terrifying and hard-to-protect gritstone or her adventure climbing pursuits.
But on March 9, 2022, the woman, the legend Hazel Findlay added a sport climbing milestone to her list of bold achievements. She became the second British female to send 5.14d/9a with her send of Esclatamasters in Spain.
Findlay’s biggest sport sends live on the drippy, orange-and-silver walls of Spain — Sharma classic “Fish Eye” (2014), “Mind Control” (2017), and now “Esclatamasters,” 5.14d/9a at Perles.
Hazel Findlay Sends 5.14d
She began projecting the route back in November 2021, left for a few months, then came back this season, ready for the redpoint. “Esclatamasters” is, according to James Pearson, a stamina test. And considering his place in the upper echelon of climbers that can stick the grade, that’s saying something.
In a show of her climbing veteran wisdom, Findlay shared her psychological insights following the send.
“Like most sport projects, in the end, it came down to two things, recruiting the fitness and managing the mind,” she wrote.
“I really focused on having a positive mindset. I didn’t succeed every day, and it was difficult at the start of the trip when we weren’t climbing well … I knew that if fear of failure showed up too strong I’d struggle to do that part so tired. But I really focused on being connected to my experience, and honestly, the whole climb felt pretty joyful.”
Findlay: All-Around Legend
She and her compatriot, Emma Twyford, are the only two women from the U.K. with 5.14d sends. They share the same distinction in trad climbing too — Findlay broke the 5.13d/E9 trad barrier in 2011 aboard Yosemite’s “Magic Line.” Twyford followed suit in 2013 with “Rare Lichen” in Wales.
Regardless of location, rock quality, or style, Findlay has freed some of the most renowned routes in the world, including four mega lines on El Cap —”Golden Gate,” “Pre-Muir,” “Freerider,” and “Salathé Wall” — and a high-alpine FA on the Aiguille de Saussure spire on Mont Blanc. She also crushes Indian Creek offwidth and probably wrestles pebbles with the best of them.
She’s also a well-established mental coach for climbers and co-hosts “The Curious Climber Podcast.”
Learn more about Findlay, her podcast, her coaching biz, and her many sick, sick sends at hazel-findlay.com and @hazel_findlay on the ‘gram.
